If you’re looking to staff your business with reliable, competitive, smart employees, using a staffing agency can be a good move. You can free up your human resources department to turn their attention to other important parts of growing your company, while also gaining highly qualified employees who have been vetted and approved already. A staffing company may have better connections than your business and offer those seeking jobs a viable opportunity for employment. In many cases, paying the recruiting agency or staffing agency will pay for itself in the long run, and can save you time and hassle. So let’s talk about what a staffing agency can do for you, where to find a reliable staffing agency, and how to keep your employees from looking for another opportunity for employment.
What are the Benefits of Using a Staffing Agency?
A staffing agency can save you time and energy in terms of finding top talent and can move much more quickly than you can, in many cases.
A staffing agency has a whole network of connections that they can draw upon to find you employees who are right for your business. They’re looking at not only people who are actively seeking jobs, but also those who perhaps aren’t seeking another opportunity for employment at the time, but could be lured away with a good offer.
They’ll also make your hiring process more streamlined. They’ll handle the first interviews, checking into references, and making sure the skills of the candidates are up to par with what you’re looking for. And their involvement often doesn’t stop there. Once the candidate is hired, they may even be involved in the on-boarding process, which can help retention rates.
How Do I Find a Good Staffing Agency?
You want a staffing agency that specializes in finding talent in the same industry that you work in. They’ll likely be keyed into what you’re looking for and be able to properly evaluate candidates. You will have conduct interviews with a few staffing agencies before deciding on one, in order to get to know the agency a bit better and determine if you think they’d be a good fit for your company. And, of course, make sure you’re checking into their references.
Referrals are another good way to find a good staffing agency. A good referral means that another company has used the agency, had a good experience, and recommends them to you, which can be much more effective than seeking one out on your own.
Ask about how they interview and screen potential candidates and how involved they remain throughout the entire process. If you want help with on-boarding, for example, and one agency doesn’t offer that, you may choose another agency who can offer that service.
And, of course, make sure that your needs are made quite clear and how you can reach the staffing agency if you need them at odd hours, if something should go wrong.
How Do I Keep My Employee Retention Rates Up?
Employee retention is the top concern for almost half of human resources profsesionals surveyed. Over 60% of organizations say that employee retention is an issue and $11 billion is lost every year because of employee turnover. So how do you keep your employees happy and loyal to your company?
Offering good benefits can go a long way — good vacation time, health benefits, and even something as simple as employee recognition can make a difference. Indeed, almost 90% of companies who run employee recognition programs said that there was an uptick in how happy their workers were.
Employee on-boarding can also be significant. New hires who have this type of structure are almost 60% more likely to still be with the company three years later. And, having an interesting company (one that is diverse in both gender and ethnicity) leads to a competitive company that performs better.
If you’re looking to staff your business with the best employees possible, it’s worth checking in with a staffing agency who have connections to those looking for an opportunity for employment.